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Plant biology

Witchcraft and destruction

Nature volume 504, pages 384–385 (2013)Cite this article

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The discovery of a protein that is targeted for degradation by the 'witch' hormones called strigolactones reveals a mechanism by which shoot architecture is controlled in rice plants. See Articles p.401 & p.406

The mythical old hag Striga gained succour by drawing the life force from her young victims. Today, she lends her name to the witchweeds of the genus Striga and to the strigolactone compounds that trigger these plants to parasitize their unsuspecting host plants. But these compounds typically play a more positive part in plant biology — as hormones that control the development of roots and shoots to coordinate the capture of mineral nutrients from the soil with that of carbon from the atmosphere. The strigolactone receptor is a curious protein because it simultaneously perceives and destroys the hormone. In two papers1,2 published on Nature's website today, a target of this receptor in rice is reported to be the novel protein DWARF53, the strigolactone-dependent destruction of which blocks the outgrowth of secondary shoots.

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Figure 1: Repression of secondary-shoot growth by strigolactones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Steven M. Smith is at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia.,

    Steven M. Smith

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  1. Steven M. Smith
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Correspondence to Steven M. Smith.

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Smith, S. Witchcraft and destruction. Nature 504, 384–385 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12843

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